NEWS

TIMES PHOTO: JONATHAN HOUSE - MITCH teachers dig into dirt during a gardening workshop put on by Neighbors Nourishing Communities.

Oregon Local NewsReported in The Tualatin Times

​At MITCH Charter School last Friday, several teachers stayed after school for some hands-on learning of their own.

MITCH is partnering this year with Neighbors Nourishing Communities, a Tualatin-based nonprofit group that shares gardening tips, supplies and seeds with prospective vegetable-growers in exchange for a share of their produce.

​The nonprofit recently gave four homemade “germination stations” — little more than wheeled kitchen racks outfitted with grow lights, potting trays and other supplies, said Chad Darby, the group's founder — to the charter school, which is affiliated with the Tigard-Tualatin School District.On Friday, Darby and gardener Caitlin Blood showed the school staff how to work with them.“You can put a lot of seeds in the ground, throw some water in them and put them in a sunny window and have relatively good success," Darby said. "With this setup, you'll be able to have controlled conditions. You'll be able to have germination rates that are very, very high, very consistent conditions, so that if you want to do experiments, you can.”